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statistics have shown that the Spanish property market has grown
by 16% in February compared to the same month last year. Excluding
social housing, there were 35,720 homes sales in February with 21,368
of them being new builds and the balance of 19,665 as re-sales.
After much speculation by local businesses and media, many believe
the property market has reached the bottom and is starting to recover
after two years of decline. Despite the erratic improvement in the
Spanish property market, we are some way off the volume of sales
that were experienced in 2007.
On further
investigations, and without stretching the imagination, Catalonia
(43%) and Madrid (36%) were the two main regions that benefited
from the majority of property transactions. In Malaga and Alicante
saw year on year increases of 3% and 3.8% respectively and Andalucia
saw a 7% rise. Granada and Cadiz were both up 14% and Valencia saw
23% growth.
In southern Spain and in particular Marbella, there were positive
signs with the local tax office revealing that 2,499 properties
were sold within the first three months of 2010, some 200% increase
compared to the same period in 2009, where only 820 properties were
sold. In a local interview, the Mayor of Marbella, Angeles Muñoz
said Marbella will be the first out of the crisis and is steadily
recovering from not only the fall out in the property market, but
also illegal property scandals. In addition Angeles Muñoz
has stated that the new PGOU will come into effect this month, which
will legalise some 16,000 properties thus enabling owners to sell
them, raise a mortgage or use them as an asset.
Only time will tell how fast the property market will recover in
Spain, with aspects such as bank lending, bank debts and a general
glut of newly built properties for sale as major issues, Spain needs
to look to its EU neighbours for help and support over the coming
period.
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